Kingdom v1.3

I released Kingdom three years ago, but every time I play it I’m still looking for ways to make it better. It’s a crowd-favorite at Story Games Seattle so I’ve had a lot of opportunities to try out refinements that streamline the rules and make things simpler, faster and more fun.

This rules update includes the latest improvements we use, hot off the presses. If you’re playing Kingdom, I strongly recommend it.

You can also download updated character sheets, role cards and a new reference sheet. This is Kingdom version 1.3 for those of you keeping track, and it incorporates everything from previous updates as well.

Just about every change is something being removed, and that should tell you a lot. I’ve played Kingdom a lot since it came out and I’ve had a ton of fantastic games, but each session has made it clearer that some parts of the rules, while totally logical, are simply not necessary to make the fun or the drama. And therein lies a big secret of game design: recognizing all the pieces you don’t need and removing every single one.